page_title: Revenue stamps of the United States
section_title: Private die proprietary stamps
hierarchical_section_title: Revenue stamps of the United States / Private die proprietary stamps
caption_attribution_description: English: Image of San Francisco Percussion Match Co proprietary stamp, 12c, issued 1872
context_page_description: The first revenue stamps in the United States were used briefly during colonial times, among the most notable usage involved the Stamp Act. Long after independence, the first revenue stamps printed by the United States government were issued in the midst of the American Civil War, prompted by the urgent need to raise revenue to pay for the great costs it incurred. After the war ended however, revenue stamps and the taxes they represented still continued. Revenue stamps served to pay tax duties on items that came under two main categories, Proprietary and Documentary. Proprietary stamps paid tax duties on goods like alcohol and tobacco, and were also used for various services, while Documentary stamps paid duties on legal documents, mortgage deeds, stocks and a fair number of other legal dealings. Proprietary and Documentary stamps often bore these respective designations, while in several of the issues they shared the same designs, sometimes with minor variations. Beginning in 1862 the first revenue stamps were issued, and would continue to be used for another hundred years and more.
context_section_description: After the tax laws were passed in 1862, private proprietors were allowed to furnish their own stamps, subject to the approval of the Internal Revenue and subsequently were granted a discount on the taxes paid for the goods they sold. Private stamps offered the advantage of having the proprietor's name depicted on the stamp. The proprietor paid the cost of engraving the die and the printing plates which in the beginning varied considerably. Some proprietors paid as little as $60 while others paid as much as $750. After June 1, 1863 a uniform cost of $350 was adopted for all dies with a couple of exceptions for large ones.
  Most of these stamps were printed by Butler & Carpenter of Philadelphia who also printed revenue stamps for the government. Since many stamps would be used to seal a container or packet they were often long in configuration and would be destroyed upon opening. Four types of paper were used to print private die proprietary stamps. They were printed on white, unwatermarked paper up until September, 1871, commonly referred to as "old paper." Some of this paper contained sparsely scattered silk threads and is considered a minor variety or as "experimental silk." The full "silk paper" contains numerous silk threads and was used between 1871 and 1878. "Pink paper" was also used for a brief period between 1877 and 1878. Watermarked paper, bearing the initials USIR was used from late 1877 to the end of the tax period in 1883. To help provide funding for the Spanish–American War the use of private stamps resumed again from July 1, 1898 until July 1, 1902. A variety of patent medicines, wines and other goods like perfumery and cosmetics were taxed, but only a comparatively small number of companies used private die stamps during this period.
caption: San Francisco Percussion Match Co 12c 1872 issue
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